When I was a kid, I didn’t understand what this food was. Buffalo do not have wings! It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that they were named for the city of Buffalo, not the animal buffalo. But are there even buffalo in Buffalo? It’s a rabbit hole.

Anyway, here’s how to make buffalo wings.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Frank’s Red Hot sauce (or your preferred sauce)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 12 chicken wings (we usually buy whole wings and butcher them ourselves)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Process

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. If you have a convection oven, use the convection setting.
2. Butcher the wings: locate the joint that connects the wing and the drummy, and carefully slice through the joint, separating the wing and the drumstick. Dry the wings with a paper towel.
3. Combine the salt and baking powder in a big bowl.
4. Toss the chicken in the salt and baking powder. The baking powder helps the wings get crispier, and the salt…is salt.
5. Place the wings on a cooling rack, then put the cooling rack on a foil-lined sheet pan.
6. Bake the wings for about 40 minutes. Be sure they have an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.
7. Remove the wings from the heat and set them aside.
8. While the wings rest: combine the hot sauce and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until the butter is melted and the sauce is sticky.
9. Toss the wings in the hot sauce and serve!

Did you enjoy this recipe? Check out our other recipes on The Recipes page!